Inbox overload, chain meetings, and constant distractions can leave you feeling like you accomplished nothing. Here are some tips from productivity hackers to help you cut through the everyday noise and get stuff done. We all have our own work style. That trick that helps your colleague demolish her to-do list may not work for you. Experiment with different methods to find the most potent blend for you.14 Ways to be More Productive Click To Tweet

Get enough sleep. Unlike a machine, you need to recharge. Unless, of course, you think that health, good perception and judgment are overrated. Insufficient sleep has consequences.

Target realistic goals. Don’t stare at your massive project list every day. Instead, write two or three must-do items on an index card or sticky note. Your focus will improve, as well as your satisfaction when you crush the list you’ve made for today.

Rule your Email. You can probably wait to check email until later in the morning. Get something important done first. Don’t spend your highest energy time reacting to others. Take action on your own priorities. Check email when you want input on that channel. Also, turn off the alert noises and pop-ups, checking email on a schedule that you decide.

Don’t schedule tiny tasks. Things that you can do in a minute or two become a source of stress if they stay on your list. Knock them out to keep your task-list manageable.

Optimize meetings. Decline if you have a higher priority or don’t think you will add value by attending. Ask for an email summary if the subject is relevant to your work. Is it your meeting? Publish the agenda in advance and drive toward decisions respectfully but efficiently.

Leverage your sense of smell. Buy an air freshener or light a candle. A lemon scent can boost concentration. Jasmin can calm and give energy. Peppermint can promote clear thinking. Can’t shower the office with your favorite scent? Use a scented lotion or hand sanitizer.

Exercise at the right time. There is no best time to exercise, but there is a best time for you. Use your highest energy hours to create and produce. Pick a different time to exercise. You can’t do without exercise, but you don’t have to give it your prime time.

Clear your desktop. Clutter offers distraction and impedes clear thinking. This is true for your digital desktop as well. Give your eyes room to breathe as you work. A splash of color and/or a plant can provide a boost.

Know when music helps or hurts. Research finds that people perform high-focus tasks better in silence than when music is playing. It can relax you but can also impair focus when reading and writing. Exceptions include monotonous tasks like data entry, driving, and other boring tasks. Others suggest nature sounds or music that you are not strongly drawn to.

Meditate. The rising awareness of mindfulness and its benefits among the productivity elite cannot be ignored. Giving yourself even a few minutes of private head space will help you feel better and be more effective.

Take breaks. Studies show that the human brain can only focus for 90 to 120 minutes at a time. If you’re not deep in the zone on a critical task, try the 52-on, 17-off balance used by the most productive people. Refresh yourself by unplugging on the weekend. Check out the Fōkasu timer.

Suppress temptation. Keep your snacks in the kitchen, not at your desk. Resist social media binges, checking your smart phone 221 times (that’s just average!) or general Internet surfing. Tools like Self-Control and Cold-Turkey can help.

Certain symptoms arise repeatedly in the few people that I mentor. While most of my principles are stated in positive terms (do), there are a few negatives (don’t) that need to be set as boundaries — emotional guard rails, if you will.

DREDGING

Reaching into your past and reliving negative events is emotionally destructive. You not only grant your oppressor continued power but you actually damage your mind and body by doing this. If you share these stories (outside of a counselor’s office), you pass that negative energy along. Don’t give the evil people in your past one more second of your precious thought life. Cut them off now — *poof* — and they have no more power. Vent about pain today to someone close, but once it has passed, forget it and move on.

WORRY

Worry is the wrong use of our great gift of imagination. Planning is good. Worry is bad. Knowing that bad things *can* happen is mature. Worrying that they *will* happen is more than a waste of time. Worry robs energy from today and gives it to a fake tomorrow — a tomorrow that will likely never appear. Jesus told us it was useless (Matt 6:27). Mark Twain said it this way:

“I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”

Tell yourself right now that you have better things to do with your wonderful mind than manufacture stomach acid through worry.

ANCHORING

“That’s just the way I am.” You’ve heard people say it — usually talking about some negative trait like anger or impatience. Maybe you’ve said it yourself. It’s a lie. Personalities are given at birth. You are born talkative or outgoing or shy or musical or good with numbers. This is permanent and neither good nor bad. Character, however, is something that grows with experience and training. Angry people become calm. Impatient people enjoy anticipation. Trash talkers speak lovingly. This is called growing up. Sometimes this process takes a detour because of wrong modeling or teaching but we can get back on the right path to growth and develop a deep and lasting character. You will always be a work in progress, so never speak of your character in static terms.Are these destructive habits holding you back? Click To Tweet
photo credit: https://stocksnap.io/photo/S5UT5T2IE3

Here are my six things that make a person irresistible. As you might expect, these things are relative to the beholder — this is about humans, after all. In no particular order, they are:

Beauty

You may first leap to physical attractiveness, but that is only one of several factors that make someone attractive.

Intelligence

From which springs humor, curiosity, wonder, and so much more.

Kindness

Be honest. If you are hanging around people who are not kind, you do it for some other reason than just wanting to be there.

Authenticity

The strength to be yourself in all situations. Real regardless of who is watching.

Sensuality

To know your body and its relationship to the bodies around you — this is essential. I am not yet convinced that this can be learned. It seems to me that you either get this or you don’t.

Energy

I struggled with the name of this, adding it later after much thought. It is the best moniker I could give to your motive force, your drive, your direction, your purpose… the quality of being a non-stump.

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P.S. After surfing through a gaggle of images for one of my favorite actresses, I settled on this one where Grace Heart (Sandra Bullock) is totally being herself before the big makeover that transforms her into a pageant contestant.